With Chris Moneymaker performing hosting duties for the PokerStars Twitch channel, the two streaming superstars met this past weekend for a play money heads-up match of $100/$200 No Limit Hold'em.

The rules were simple. Both players started with a bankroll of $40,000. They could buy-in for as much of that bankroll at any given time as they wanted. And if either player went broke in the first hour, both players would receive another $20,000 to continue the match.

"Hey Spraggy," said Moneymaker as the first pot ended, "my chat wants to know: how did you get staked for this heads-up match?"

"I have some very smart backers who, once they saw the opposition, basically just gave me unlimited funds," replied Spraggy.

Type all this into your smartphone, write it in your diary, scrawl it on the bedroom wall, paint it on the side of your house, mow it in big letters on your lawn if you have to. Just save the dates.

SCOOP 2019 starts on Sunday May 12, and ends on Monday May 27. More details coming soon

That's all for now. More details coming soon.

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https://www.pokerstars.com/en/blog/2019/save-the-date-scoop-2019-runs-may-12-27-180120.shtmlNewsPokerStars newsWed, 20 Mar 2019 10:51:22 -0500Introducing New Spin of the Day: Play just one hand and win freeroll or Spin & Go tickets worth up to $100Play one hand on PokerStars between now and April 14, and you could win anything from freeroll to a $100 Spin and Go tickets...

It's part of what we call Spin of the Day, which must have the lowest barrier to entry of any PokerStars promotion.

It might not be life changing money, but it could be commute changing money. Or tea break changing money. Or waiting in line at the cash register changing money.

You get the idea.

*As always some terms and conditions apply. This promotion is not available in Greece, the Czech Republish, Sweden, India, or New Jersey.

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https://www.pokerstars.com/en/blog/2019/introducing-new-spin-of-the-day-play-one-hand-freeroll-spin-and-go-180127.shtmlNewsPokerStars newsSpin of the DayWed, 20 Mar 2019 08:49:15 -0500Kristian "kristiandali" Høeg on his High Roller Club victory, the "golden roll", and how he improved his game in 2018Having worked in the aviation industry for seven years, Denmark's Kristian "kristiandali" Høeg decided to spend more time working on his poker game throughout 2018. The results speak for themselves.

Høeg took down the High Roller Club's $530 Daily Supersonic last week for $14,973, so it felt like the right time to find out a bit more about him.

PokerStars Blog: How did it feel to take down a High Roller club title like the $530 Supersonic?

Høeg: "It felt great! I have never won a tournament with such a high buy-in before. I normally play $22-$215 tournaments, and usually I try to qualify for the $530s. I have played the Supersonic a couple of times before, and one time I managed to reach fourth place. But winning it was something else."

PS BLOG: Were there any key hands that you remember on your way to the win?

Høeg: "Not really. Obviously there were a few lucky spots that helped me reach first place."

PS BLOG: Is this the biggest win of your poker career? If not, what was?

Høeg: "Close. I finished second last year in the $215 Fat Thursday which brought in around $16K. Although to me, my biggest achievement in online poker was back in July 2018 when I won the $215 Bounty Builder two times within the same week. I was on a golden roll that week!"

PS BLOG: Speaking of 2018, your tournament results seemed to take a huge leap last year. What made 2018 so good for you?

Høeg: "I started taking poker more seriously and started studying poker more and more. I learned a lot from poker forums, online pro's Twitch channels (especially Lex Veldhuis and Parker "Tonkaaaa" Talbot), YouTube videos etc. and of course reviewing my own play and hand histories.

"What made the big difference for me was deciding to only focus on one aspect of the game (multi-table tournaments) and dedicating two to three evenings a week to play poker."

PS BLOG: What are your favourite tournaments to play?

Høeg: "I prefer playing the 'hots' and other turbo events, plus Bounty Builders as I really like the structure in these tournaments."

PS BLOG: Are you a professional player, or do you have another career?

Høeg: "I don't play poker professionally, but it is my favourite hobby. I've been working in the aviation industry, primarily within sales and planning, for about seven years now. "I live in Denmark with my girlfriend and work nearly 30 kilometres from where I live. In my free time I play poker, hang with the lads, and I like to travel a lot."

PS BLOG: Can you tell us about how you first got into poker and your journey so far?

Høeg: "I started playing poker with a friend about 10 years ago and began playing live tournaments worth $20-$33 in my local poker club. We then began playing online poker and were playing anything from $1 to $33 tournaments, sit and gos, and cash games. It costed both of us a lot of money back then as we were really caught by the game but didn't really understand it."

PS BLOG: What does the Supersonic win mean for you going forward?

Høeg: "Winning this event will not change the game or the tournaments I play. I feel comfortable in the $22-$215 range and won't really consider playing bigger events on a regularly basis because of one good win. I try to qualify for the bigger events now and then, and did once, but so far without any cashes."

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https://www.pokerstars.com/en/blog/2019/kristian-kristiandali-hoeg-on-his-high-r-180122.shtmlNewsHigh Roller ClubWed, 20 Mar 2019 06:44:36 -0500Second Steps: Strategy tips for ScrabbleOur "Second Steps" series aims to make you slightly better at a game you already know. In other words: you know the rules, you've played the game, now here's a bit of strategy to set you apart from the rank amateurs. This week: SCRABBLE

Just as all poker players have been asked at one point or another to "show us your poker face", all vaguely competent Scrabble players are used to facing a similar irrelevant request. "What does that mean?" someone inevitably asks as "QI" or "JO" or "CWM" or "ZEK" or "QAID" or "EUOI" lands on the board.

But here's the thing that regular Scrabble players know but once-a-yearers do not: the definition of words is no more relevant in Scrabble than the name of your first pet. It really doesn't matter what "QI" or "JO" or "CWM" or "ZEK" or "QAID" or "EUOI" means. All you need to know is that they're valid words in the game. And if you know that, you're well on your way to winning against most total rookies.

Scrabble may be the most popular word game in the world, but you don't need an English degree, nor to be able to construct beautiful sentences, to win it. In fact, as all-conquering New Zealander Nigel Richards proves, you don't even need to be able to speak the language at all. Richards is the world champion in Scrabble in both English and French. But don't expect him to be able to buy a cheese baguette or even get directions to the train station if you dropped him in Paris. Il ne parle pas français. Richards has just done what all top Scrabble players do: he's memorised a heck of a lot of words.

This is probably the first important lesson to learn when you're attempting to get slightly good at Scrabble. Don't get hung up on the meaning, the length, the beauty of the words. Just worry about the points they can earn you. You need to learn how best the tiles fit together, and where you can put them on the board.

FROM AA TO ZZZ: THE POWER OF TWO AND THREE

You take a massive step forward in Scrabble the minute you understand how useful the short words can be, in particular those of two or three letters. While it's tempting as a newbie to look for the longest word you can, it's far more important to learn the deployment of shorter words. You stride forward again when you learn all 124 valid two-letter words (and it's useful to have a handle on most of the 1,000+ of three letters.)

That may sound daunting, but really it's not. You actually already know the vast majority of two-letter words -- the likes of AM, AN, IF, IN, BY, WE, etc. -- and then there are others like TA, AD, OP, ER or SH that you also use but possibly thought weren't actual words. (Useful rule of thumb with regard to short words in Scrabble: if you think it might be a word, it probably is.)

There are then quite a few unfamiliar two-letter words -- such as CH or GU or JA or UT -- but after a good few games they become familiar too. Scrabble players are far more likely to play XI or QI or ZO or even KY than they are words like TABLE or CHAIR.

BUILD COMPOUNDS

One of the reasons short words are so important is that they offer so many more ways to place tiles on the board and make individual plays so much more valuable. Beginners to Scrabble tend to look at ways to make words intersect like a British crossword, with two words crossing through a single letter (below right). However advanced players look to layer tiles, more like in an American crossword (below left), creating multiple point-scoring words in a single turn.

Let's say your opponent kicks off a game by playing HARE down the centre of the board. You have the letters CAY on your rack and have a number of ways to now play them. You can make RACY, building from the R (fig. 1) or CRAY building through the same R (fig 2), both of which earn 15 points.

Figure 3

Figure 2

Figure 1

But you can also lay CAY alongside the H and A of HARE (fig 3) to build three words: CAY, AH and YA. This offers 29 points, with the Y on the double-letter score in two different words (CAY and YA). Layering words like this, particularly with high-value letters landing on bonus squares, is almost always far more profitable than simply building one longer word.

Now take a look at figs. 4-5 and the subsequent deployment of the letters SPEAR.

Figure 5

Figure 4

In fig. 4, we make the words HARES and SPEAR, with the latter on a double-word score, for a total of 25. But in fig. 5 we make AHS, YAP, RE, EA and SPEAR for a total of 31. Again, this utilises our knowledge that all of AHS, RE and EA are playable words in Scrabble.

In a sentence: Look for ways to create multiple words in one turn.

KNOW YOUR LETTERS, AND USE THEM WELL

Another division between Scrabble newcomers and Scrabble veterans develops when they pull the J, Q, X or Z out of the bag. Newbies groan while veterans delight. And again, it's the veterans who know best.

The relative value of individual letters in Scrabble depends on their scarcity in the language. All the vowels only earn one point because they're used so frequently, while J and X are worth eight points, with Q and Z worth 10. (By contrast, in the German version of the game, where many more words have a Z, it's worth only three points. The comparatively rare Y is worth 10.)

Just a regular game...

Although these high-scoring letters supposedly make building words more difficult, they can help produce massive totals, particularly when placed on a bonus square. It's why top players make extra effort to memorise as many words involving these letters as they can, then are at pains to put them on the big bonuses. If, for instance, you manage to place a Z on a triple, and get it running in two directions, that is already 60 points -- for placing one letter alone.

As ever, there are some decent resources online for lists of obscure words using these rare letters, which can not only help you out of a jam, they can potentially turn a game on its head. Here are just a handful to get you started:

It's also worth remembering that contrary to most written English norms, not all valid Scrabble words require a U to follow a Q. In fact, plenty of words (most of which originate in Arabic) are valid in Scrabble that dispense with the U altogether. So remember these ones too: QADI QAID QOPH WAQF FAQIR QANAT QIBLA TALAQ

In a sentence: "Awkward" letters can be your friends.

THE STRENGTH OF THE S AND BLANK

At the other end of the usefulness spectrum, we find the most playable tiles in the bag: the S and the blank. Even a total rookie should know how useful these tiles are -- even if they officially score a grand total of one and nothing, respectively.

In many cases in the English game, the S can simply be added on to a word already on the board to collect what sometimes seem like free points. But don't just go placing the S down without also building a second word at the same time. The S is the perfect "hook" tile, which can join two words in a way that maximises points. Typically they join with both ending in the S, but there are also numerous common words that can make a new word with the addition of an S to the front (CAN become SCAN, LAP becomes SLAP, PLATTER becomes SPLATTER, for example).

Of course, the S also becomes incredibly valuable if you have a six-letter word on your rack that can be pluralised for a seven-letter bingo.

Figure 7

Figure 6

See fig 6 and 7, where a rack of TIMESTN can become either MITTENS or SMITTEN and can be placed either at the front or the end of PARK. That's worth up to 83 points.

Most Scrabble experts will say that the S is so valuable that you should only play it when it adds a minimum of 10 points to your play, and usually something closer to 20 or 25 points. It is simply wasted if you play it alone or if it does not help produce a high-scoring word.

The blank tile -- of which there are only two in the bag -- is even more valuable, and top-ranked players believe it should only be played when it stands to add around 50 points to your total. That's because its versatility as a stand-in for any letter should lead you to be able to construct a seven-letter bingo, or at least as a prop to move a high-scoring tile on to a premium bonus square. There are a number of highly valuable combinations of letters in Scrabble -- such as ING, IER, IEST, PRE, which can turn common short words into high scoring longer words -- and the blank can help transform any rack into something far more playable.

It follows that you should never squander the blank. Even if you have a tile of mismatched letters, do your best to shed a few in shorter words while retaining your blank to play only when it will reap the most significant reward.

In a sentence: Make sure the big hitters score big.

PRACTICE RACK MANAGEMENT

Scrabble's random element comes when players draw tiles from the bag, and even the best in the world sometimes find themselves with seven vowels or seven consonants and pretty much no hope of piecing together a high-scoring word.

When things get too desperate, it's always worth remembering that players can sacrifice their turn to discard and exchange tiles at any point during the game (provided enough replacement tiles remain in the bag). However, you don't always need to reach for the nuclear option -- and it's even less likely if you remember that prevention is better than cure.

Top Scrabble players are conscious of the vowel/consonant balance on their racks at all times and aim to keep it at roughly three vowels to four consonants (or two to five). There are several valid words known as "vowel dumps" (or "consonant dumps") that can help in clearing up a messy rack and guide it back towards a more agreeable balance. You should consider these instead of exchanging if there's a place to put them on the board.

Good players also try to keep combinations of letters on their racks that work well together, and can forge high-scoring bonus words. By common agreement, the absolutely ideal Scrabble rack is AEINRST, whose letters can be arranged into no fewer than 11 seven-letter words (ANESTRI, ANTSIER, NASTIER, RATINES, RESIANT, RETAINS, RETINAS, RETSINA, STAINER, STARNIE and STEARIN). Because the bonus for a seven-letter word is so high -- 50 points -- it's worth the effort to seek one out. That means dumping awkward letters in lower-scoring, shorter words and trying to cultivate a rack of letters that work well together, building to a bonus.

Suffixes such as -ING, -ED, -ISH, -ISE, -ER, -EST, -IER and -IEST are exceptionally useful in building seven-letter words, as are groupings such as -ABLE or -LESS. Don't forget prefixes either, such as RE- and PRE- or UN-, which can be attached to numerous verbs to create valid Scrabble words.

In a sentence: TRAIN to RETAIN the good letters.

As with players of all highly competitive, sophisticated games, Scrabble's elite have spent many hours studying, learning and honing their skills. They learn hundreds and hundreds of words specifically for their use on the Scrabble board. But it's also true that most beginners could improve their games dramatically by the application of only a handful of simple strategy points. We hope these Second Steps will lift you slightly clear of the pack.

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https://www.pokerstars.com/en/blog/features/2019/second-steps-strategy-tips-for-scrabble-180110.shtmlFeaturesTue, 19 Mar 2019 13:10:25 -05005-Card Fiction: Evoking Stu Ungar with a 10-high call on "Billions"Heard about the time legendary poker player and three-time World Series of Poker Main Event winner Stu Ungar called an opponent's all-in holding just 10-high? And was right!

Ungar's amazing call has entered poker lore as a remarkable real-life hold'em hand, recounted many times over as evidence of Ungar's poker prowess. It has also received a kind of homage as a fictional hand arising in the Showtime TV series Billions.

Billions was co-created by Rounders screenwriters Brian Koppelman and David Levien along with Andrew Ross Sorkin (no relation to Aaron Sorkin). Just last week James Hartigan and Joe Stapleton were discussing the show on the Poker in the Ears podcast. In fact, in this week's episode the pair will be interviewing Koppelman and no doubt they will be talking about Billions -- and probably about a hand occurring in a poker game shown in the third episode of Season 2.

Billions takes place in the high-stakes world of Wall Street. At its heart is an interesting and ongoing "heads-up" battle between Chuck Rhoades (Paul Giamatti), the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, and billionaire hedge fund manager Bobby "Axe" Axelrod (Damian Lewis).

"The way they talk about poker is the same way they talk about investments and business," explained Hartigan on last week's Poker in the Ears. He's right -- there's a lot of poker-like gamesmanship happening throughout the series, even if poker isn't a primary part of the narrative.

Incidentally, the Rhoades character is loosely based on former U.S. Attorney of SDNY Preet Bharara, whom poker players might remember for his prominent role around the time of "Black Friday." Meanwhile Axelrod is based somewhat on the hedge fund manager Steven Cohen whose company's trading at one time accounted for 2 percent of the entire stock market. Cohen is also known for having found himself ensnared in an insider trading scandal resulting in a huge settlement and a period on the trading sidelines for Cohen.

As it happens, Cohen is himself an avid poker player. A Wall Street Journal profile once detailed his poker playing in high school in college and how Cohen later affirmed the game "taught me how to take risks." Thus it's appropriate in the episode titled "Optimal Play" to find him eagerly joining a high-stakes Wall Street charity poker tournament called the "Alpha Cup."

Ungar takes the wind out of Matloubi's sails

The climactic hand in the Alpha Cup draws directly from the famous Stu Ungar hand alluded to above. If you aren't familiar with it, here's the story.

In 1990, Stu Ungar was in a bad place. At the start of the 1980s he'd won back-to-back WSOP Main Event titles plus two more bracelets, but none since 1983 as he more often battled his own demons than poker opponents. That year, however, he found himself among the chip leaders through two days of the Main after having been bought into the event by Billy Baxter.

When Day 3 began, everyone but Ungar was in their seats. Eventually he was found unconscious on his hotel room floor, downed by drugs again. Soon he was carried by ambulance to a hospital where he'd remain while the tournament played to its conclusion with Mansour Matloubi winning. Remarkably, Ungar (and Baxter) still cashed in ninth place after his big stack finally blinded away.

Peter Alson and Nolan Dalla continue the story in their book about Ungar, One of a Kind, describing how afterwards "The Kid" challenged Matloubi to a heads-up, winner-take-all match for $50,000. The duel eventually took place at the Four Queens early the next year.

Matloubi initially took the lead in the match, then Ungar nudged in front. Phil Hellmuth is the source of the account of what happened next (shared in One of a Kind).

Ungar started the action with a raise to $1,600 (a 4x raise, I believe) and Matloubi called holding 5-4 offsuit. The flop came 3-3-7 rainbow, Matloubi checked, and Ungar made a big bet of $6,000 (close to 2x pot) which Matloubi called with his gutshot straight draw. Both players then checked the K turn.

The river was a Q, and "smelling weakness in Stuey" (says Hellmuth), Matloubi jammed all in with the $32,000 he had back. Ungar took less than 10 seconds to call, obviously having sensed weakness as well. He then showed 10-9 -- winning the pot and the match with just 10-high. In other versions of the story, Ungar says out loud "you've either got 4-5 or 5-6" to Matloubi before calling.

"When a guy makes a call like that against you, you just give up," Matloubi later told Hellmuth. "It's like he's taken the wind out of your sails."

The task of televising the 10-high call

That same punch-to-the-gut, "wind out of your sails" feeling was clearly the intended goal in the very similar hand portrayed in the "Optimal Play" episode of Billions written by Willie Reale.

The Alpha Cup is an annual event, and in the episode the charity tournament becomes a battlefield between Axelrod and a rival hedge fund manager named Todd Krakow (Danny Strong). Krakow has won the event three times and Axe is desperate to knock him down a peg.

Firms are allowed to enter a couple of players into the event, and Axe selects Taylor Amber Mason, an analyst at Axe Capital, who has a poker background. In truth, Axe goads Taylor into playing, as the latter is almost strangely turned off by competition despite being an excellent player.

Like Asia Kate Dillon who portrays the character, Taylor is non-binary -- the first such character on a major TV series. That background obviously makes Taylor unique among other characters on the show. So, too, does Taylor's overabundance of empathy, which in the tournament translates into a seeming lack of desire to win, especially since doing so in poker necessarily comes at others' expense.

With Phil Hellmuth turning up again in a cameo as the tournament's emcee, we see Krakow knock out Axe after flopping a set versus Krakow's two pair, then soon enough Krakow and Taylor are heads-up for the title. Not only is the trophy on the line, but Axe has made a $1 million side bet with Krakow that Taylor will win, something Krakow brings up in an effort to unsettle Taylor.

Somewhat like Stu Ungar who famously thought little of the meaning of money, Taylor is unfazed.

"In the continuum, 10,000 years of human history, this card game, the Alpha Cup, what does it mean?" responds Taylor. "By 2090 we'll all be gone, every last one of us."

Then comes the hand -- [5h][4h] for Krakow, and [Tc][9d] for Taylor. Krakow raises, Taylor three-bets, and Krakow calls, and the flop comes [3h][3c][7d]. Taylor leads and Krakow calls again, then after the [Ks] lands on the turn Taylor checks.

To this point the players' hands and the board are mostly mirroring the Ungar-Matloubi hand, although here on the turn Krakow makes a bet and Taylor just calls (a seemingly strange thing to do with 10-9).

The river [Qd] completes the board, and Taylor checks again. Here we're reminded we're watching a fiction as Krakow calls "time" and consults with his coach, Wendy Rhoades -- the U.S. Attorney's wife (their marriage is troubled) who happens to work for Axe (yeah... it's complicated).

Krakow returns to the table and announces he's all in. Taylor begins to think.

"You don't have a king, you'd have reraised preflop," Taylor begins. "You're never moving in on a queen here in case I have the king. I think you're on a gutshot... 4-5... 5-6. I think you're trying to bully me, and a bully's devastated when you stand up to him. I'm sorry. Call."

Indeed, Krakow is devastated when he sees he has lost the hand (and the tournament) to Taylor's ten-high. Meanwhile Taylor shows no emotion and indeed gets no joy at all out of winning, unlike Axe.

It's a bit of a risky move by Billions, dramatizing a hand like this one rather than the typical straight-flush-beats-quads overkill often found in other five-card fictions.

In a review of the episode for The New York Times, Scott Tobias praised the show for not repeating in the last hand the "cruder form of warfare" exemplified in the earlier one between Krakow and Axe. Instead the hand shows how Taylor's "genius is to exercise soft power and allow Krakow to trip over his own hubris." (Again, not unlike Ungar in the hand versus Matloubi.)

Gutsy play, Billions. Though not as gutsy as calling an all-in with 10-high!

For more on Billions and other five-card fictions, be sure to check out the next episode of Poker in the Ears with Brian Koppelman on Soundcloud, iTunes, and Spotify.

"5-Card Fiction" is an ongoing series examining fictional poker hands from film, television, and elsewhere. Have a favorite fictional poker hand you'd like to see discussed? Tweet your suggestions @PokerStarsBlog.

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https://www.pokerstars.com/en/blog/features/2019/5-card-fiction-evoking-stu-ungar-with-a--180107.shtmlFeatures5-Card FictionBillionsBrian KoppelmanPoker in the EarsTue, 19 Mar 2019 10:40:00 -0500PokerStars School: Add these eight healthy habits to your game, and learn betting strategy with PS School on DiscordYou want to improve your poker game. PokerStars School has you covered. Here's a look what our friends at PS School are doing this week to help you master the game you love.

Healthy Habits To Improve Your Game

"Habits are the nuts!" writes Pete Clarke. "Why? Because they come from the subconscious mind, which has far superior processing power to the conscious mind. Imagine the poker player's mind as a computer. Having too much going on can slow things down, but when information is learned so well that it becomes stored, that precious RAM (or conscious thought) is no longer required to utilise those concepts."

Handily, Pete is ready to help you figure out which habits will improve your bottom line the fastest. Consider committing these eight habits to your subconscious so that it's almost impossible NOT to do them.

Healthy habits lead to healthy pots!

Winners Wall interview with PS School Discord regular "Scoobydubiou"

The latest entry on the Winners Wall is an interview with Canada's Kevin "Scoobydubiou" Bilmes, a regular in the PS School Discord channel. Over the last six years he's gone from knowing nothing at all about the game to having played mroe than 17,000 tournaments on PokerStars, and he credits PS School for helping him find his way.

"I find being able to chat in real time with other poker players through the Discord platform to be more my speed than the forums for discussing poker strategy," he says. "There are quite a few very knowledgeable individuals there who can help you dissect a hand or even tell you if you might have bet too much on the turn. Also, I enjoy the camaraderie I share with the Discord regs when the conversation veers toward other topics. It can be quite a fun place to hang out, chat and meet new people to talk about poker or a variety of other topics."

Videos: MTT Strategy Course

Federico Sztern returns this week with two new installments in his MTT strategy video course.

"It's true that a lot of poker players make the same mistakes again and again," says Sztern of his first video. "If we are serious about being a profitable player then we need to be able to, not only not make the mistakes ourselves, but also to be able to identify the tendencies and mistakes of our opponents and exploit them." Watch the video to find out more.

The next lesson focuses on playing after the flop with a deep stack. With so many variables and factors to take into account, it's not always easy to figure out your next move once you've seen the flop. Luckily Sztern has just the tips you need to elevate your game in this video.

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https://www.pokerstars.com/en/blog/2019/pokerstars-school-add-these-eight-health-180109.shtmlNewsPokerStars SchoolTue, 19 Mar 2019 09:49:07 -0500Attention freeroll players: We're adding thousands to New Prizepool Madness Freeroll this month. How much? That's up to you...If you like freerolls then March on PokerStars is a month designed specifically for you...

It's called the Prizepool Madness Freeroll. And while you might already know what a freeroll is, the madness part will take some explaining.

Because that's where you come in.

This is no ordinary freeroll. Over the next 12 days you can help determine just how big the prizepool gets. Just by completing tasks along the way.

You'll find these tasks across the PokerStars world. It could be from our Team Pros on Twitch, on Social Media, or on the PokerStars Blog.

Prizepool Madness starts at 16:00 ET on Sunday 31 March

If you help compete the task - whatever that might be -we'll add more money to the prize pool.

Right now, that prizepool stands at $10,000. But it could be several times that figure before play starts at 16:00 ET on Sunday 31 March.

How you can boost the freeroll prizepool

Here's an example of some of the ways you can help.

Each day between now and Sunday 31 March, we'll post some sort of request. It might be something like asking for a re-tweet, answering a quiz question, making a prediction or even just clicking something.

If enough people take part, and meet the challenge criteria, we'll add more money to the prizepool. We have money to add every day. So, make the most of it.

So, while that prizepool figure starts at $10,000 it could (with your help) reach several times that. It's up to you.

How to get a freeroll ticket

The freeroll itself is not open to everyone. But we want to make sure only those who make the effort get to play. So, tickets to the freeroll will be awarded to players depositing $20 or more on PokerStars using the deposit code: BLOGMAD

You won't need a penny of it to play this freeroll, but you'll be free from opposition less scrupulous about putting in the effort than yourself.

You'll find the freeroll in the Tournament Lobby: ID 2564195778

Make a deposit and we'll credit you with a ticket to play on Sunday 31 March. But you can start to affect how much you'll be playing for almost immediately.

How best to take advantage?

Keep an eye PokerStars over the next 12 days. You can do that on Twitter:

And you should keep an eye on the #PokerInTheEars hashtag as well. Because the Podcast team are in on this as well.

Every day they'll be some way to help, with the first announced tomorrow.

And here's a hint: Keep an eye on those twitter accounts to discover what's in store.

Collect your entry ticket now

And remember: to play the freeroll all you need to do is make a deposit of $20 or more between now and Sunday 31 March.
Do that by using the Deposit Code: BLOGMAD, and you'll be credited with a freeroll ticket.

The rest is literally up to you. Starting tomorrow you can help add thousands more to the prizepool. And have a little fun along the way.

Stay tuned to find out how.

And good luck!

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https://www.pokerstars.com/en/blog/2019/attention-freeroll-players-prizepool-madness-freeroll-180082.shtmlNewsPokerStars newsMon, 18 Mar 2019 11:16:30 -0500São Paulo: Home of the BSOP, but that's only the startFrom March 21-26, 2019, the Brazil Series of Poker (BSOP) returns to São Paulo for what is certain to be a simply enormous live tournament festival. This is the event that draws the biggest fields outside of the World Series of Poker (WSOP) and pays some of the biggest prizes in the region. The Brazil poker boom shows no signs of slowing, and a spring trip down to São Paulo would be a smart move for any tournament poker player.

The extraordinary BSOP tournament room

Of course, away from the BSOP tables, visitors to São Paulo will also immediately be dazzled by a city that throbs with activity 24 hours a day. This is the most populous city in the Americas -- around 50 percent more people live here than in New York City -- and fully discovering São Paulo takes a lifetime rather than the few days usually afforded most out-of-towners.

Nevertheless, you can quickly get your bearings in São Paulo with reference to a few landmarks, and a tiny bit of local knowledge. Here are a few pointers to help you make the most out of a trip to Brazil.

WHERE AM I?

The BSOP tournament takes place in the Sheraton São Paulo WTC Hotel, which is in the very heart of the city's Berrini business district. That means streets lined with thousands of office workers going about their daily lives amid countless restaurants, coffee shops and bars. It is also close to the Pinheiros River, which runs for around 25 kilometres through the centre of the city, and a short walk to the Berrini stop on São Paulo's metro system, which is on the Green Line 2. From there, the whole city opens up.

Most visitors will quickly want to discover Ibirapuera Park, a vast and beautiful city park amid the urban bustle, which is Latin America's answer to New York's Central Park. It has many kilometres of footpaths wending past lakes, woodland, landscaped gardens and sports fields. Some of the buildings were designed by Brazil's most celebrated architect Oscar Niemeyer, including the striking Ibirapuera Auditorium, a performance space that attracts musicians and artists from across the world. Some of the city's most visited museums are also in or neighbouring the park, including the Museum of Modern Art, the Museum of Contemporary Art, and the Japanese Pavilion. Ayrton Senna Square, a monument dedicated to the Formula 1 racing driver, is also nearby.

There are close to 200 museums and galleries in São Paulo, which means a day off should never go to waste, come rain or shine.

The city's most important road is Paulista Avenue, which runs for close to 3km and defines what many consider the "centre" of São Paulo. Originally Paulista Avenue was flanked by the mansions of the city's richest merchants, but now it is another vibrant urban thoroughfare with offices and cultural institutions along either side. São Paulo's main Museum of Art (MASP) is halfway down, opposite Trianon Park. On a Sunday, the area beneath the museum becomes a wondrous antiques market selling all manner of curios.

Also check out the brilliant Football Museum in Charles Miller Plaza, a short walk from Paulista Avenue's northernmost end. If you thought you liked sport, wait until you see how the Brazilians regard football (soccer). This museum pays homage to the game that is treated as a religion in these parts.

Football is a religion in Brazil (Picture: Public domain)

While we're on the subject of football, a number of professional teams have their home in São Paulo including Corinthians, Palmeiras and São Paulo, all of which currently play in the top flight Série A. The season runs from April to December, so while you won't be able to catch any matches if you're in town for the BSOP, bear it in mind for your inevitable return trip.

If you want to get the best literal overview of São Paulo, head to the top of the Edifício Itália, which is a 46-story skyscraper and has panoramic views over the city. It is in the historic centre of São Paulo, close to where the city began life as a tiny village in the 16th century. Though the Metropolitan Cathedral here is a modern construction, the area has been the spiritual focus of the city for more than 400 years.

I'M HUNGRY, FEED ME

São Paulo is a foodies' paradise, with high-end restaurants and street vendors alike serving their own twists on local specialities. Like all great metropolises, various immigrant communities have long made their home in São Paulo, and the influences of countless cuisines is never more evident than on the city's menus.

Arguably the most revered of all local snacks are "pastel de feira" -- a kind of fried dough pocket, like an empanada, stuffed with whatever takes the maker's fancy and served from breakfast through late night. They originally owe their presence in Brazil to immigrants from Asia, but they now feel as Brazilian as Pele, particularly when served with zesty "vinagrete" and washed down with sugarcane juice.

You also have to try some "coxinha", which take bar snacks to a new level. The name translates as "little chicken thigh", a reference to their triangular shape (also sometimes described as like a raindrop). These comprise shredded chicken mixed with punchy spices and deep-fried. Wash them down with cold beer.

Exceptional food is available across the city

If you're still playing, and need something highly nutritional to focus mind and body, find yourself somewhere selling açaí na tigela, which ticks every single box for a health-conscious professional. This is a nutrition, protein, vitamin-packed smoothie-style concoction, which combines the local super-food açai with any number of fruits and natural sugars.

By and large, you can't go wrong by heading to one of the city's "padocas", or bakeries, which serve light snacks and full meals (as well as booze) often 24 hours a day. For some heavier and more meaty fare, look for a "churrascaria", which is an all-you-can eat steakhouse characterised by huge portions of meat served on skewers. There's a dense concentration of restaurants in the Pinheiros district of the city.

FIND ME SOMEWHERE TO STAY

The obvious place to stay for the BSOP is in the tournament venue itself: the Sheraton São Paulo WTC. It's a four-star business hotel and has all the amenities that come with the territory.

This being the business district, there's also a Hilton, a Wyndham and the Estanplaza nearby. None are more than a 10-minute walk from the venue, and there's a Novotel, a Grand Hyatt and a Park Inn only a little further.

Looking further afield, the Hotel Unique is exactly that: an architectural marvel close to Ibirapuera Park, which was named as the best hotel in Latin America by readers of Conde Nast Traveler. Similarly, if you win the tournament you might want to treat yourself to a couple of nights in the wonderful and expensive Hotel Fasano, which combines 1930s elegance with all the most modern functionality.

There are countless far cheaper hotels and hostels across the city, though you'll need to make sure you figure out decent transport options to and from the tournament venue. If you really want to do all this on a shoestring budget, there are a network of cycling trails across São Paulo, and plenty of places to rent bikes, so why not give that unconventional approach some thought?

***

All in all, São Paulo is the kind of city that rewards intrepid exploration of as much of its 1,500 square kilometres as you can manage. New museums, restaurants and markets continue to pop up, while others have remained popular for many hundreds of years. As ever, we hope you spend as much time playing poker as you possibly can, and win all the money. But there's ample consolation among São Paulo's city streets should things not go according to plan.

ROMANIA'S "luigy666" WINS SUNDAY MILLION FOR $108K

It took 14 hours and 14 minutes for the $109 Sunday Million to get from 10,360 entries down to just one. When all was said and done, it was Romania's "luigy666" who came out on top, banking a massive $108,192.

There was no deal made, meaning the runner-up finisher, Croatia's "QTsN€v€rF0ld", earned $77,787. The final table also included Latvia's poker@luffyD (7th - $14,947).

This isn't "luigy666"'s first taste of Sunday success, having taken down the $22 Mini Sunday Million back in March 2018 for $21,200. We'd have to look into it, but this might make "luigy666" the first player to have won both editions of the Milly. "luigy666" has now eclipsed their previous biggest score, $68,322 from a 2011 WCOOP final table.

HUGE SUNDAY FOR ANDRAS "PROBIRS" NEMETH

While the High Roller Club always shines a light on some of poker's best online players, it was Super High Roller regular Andras "probirs" Nemeth who shone brightest on Sunday.

Nemeth also final tabled the $1,050 Daily Warm-Up, finishing fifth for $6,614. To cap things off, Nemeth placed second in the $2,100 Sunday Cooldown for a cool $18,059. Simon "C. Darwin2" Mattsson took that one down for $23,504.

"DAY SAVER" FOR FINTAN "easywithaces" HAND

PokerStars Ambassador Fintan "easywithaces" Hand has been on a tear of late, securing his biggest score last week. However, Sunday wasn't going so well for him.

Fintan "easywithaces" Hand

Thankfully for Hand, his final run of the day provided some financial relief:

Nice little day saver and then some for the lads. Will be back online at just after 16.00 CET tomorrow. Love a bit of poker when you're winning. pic.twitter.com/0EscSGVQql

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https://www.pokerstars.com/en/blog/2019/weekend-review-huge-sunday-for-andras-pr-180073.shtmlNewsAndras NemethSunday MillionMon, 18 Mar 2019 06:46:27 -0500Tweet your #PokerInTheEars questions for Billions and Rounders scribe Brian KoppelmanBrian Koppelman is all set to join James Hartigan and Joe Stapleton on this week's episode of Poker In The Ears. And the boys want to hear your questions for the man who brought Chuck Rhoades and Bobby Axelrod to life. To say nothing of Mike McDermott and Teddy KGB.

There's probably nobody in Hollywood history who has taken more poker projects to the screen than Koppelman. Besides co-writing the 1998 cult classic film Rounders, Koppelman also created ESPN's 2005 series Tilt and wrote the 2013 online poker thriller Runner Runner.

Maybe you have a burning question about Billions. Maybe you're curious about a Hollywood screenwriter's process. Or perhaps you want to see if you can buy the rights to Rounders 2. Whatever your question, Hartigan and Stapes are ready to be your conduit. All you need to do is post your query on Twitter with the hashtag #PokerInTheEars. The boys will choose some of your questions and pose them to the man himself when they chat mid-week.

The Brian Koppelman episode is set to record this Wednesday, so get tweeting before then. And while you wait for the episode to drop on Thursday, check out Poker In The Ears on Soundcloud, iTunes, and Spotify.

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https://www.pokerstars.com/en/blog/2019/tweet-pokerintheears-questions-brian-koppelman-180062.shtmlNewsBrian KoppelmanPoker In The EarsMon, 18 Mar 2019 02:20:36 -0500Book excerpt: "From Vietnam to Vegas!" by Qui Nguyen and Steve BlayAn excerpt from From Vietnam to Vegas! How I Won the World Series of Poker Main Event by Qui Nguyen and Steve Blay, a comprehensive study of hands Nguyen played at the 2016 WSOP Main Event final table.

Qui Nguyen's victory in the 2016 World Series of Poker Main Event was punctuated by an exciting final table marked throughout by Nguyen's aggressive play. It made for some compelling viewing as well, with commentator Antonio Esfandiari remarking at one point "I couldn't get a read on Qui Nguyen if my life depended on it."

Following his victory, Nguyen collaborated with Steve Blay of Advanced Poker Training to explain to Esfandiari and everyone else his thought process throughout that final table. In the resulting book From Vietnam to Vegas!, Nguyen reviews 176 key hands, with additional commentary from Blay additionally analyzing the mathematical basis behind Nguyen's decisions.

The book additionally includes a Q&A with Nguyen covering other topics that arose during the three-day final table as well as a short autobiography in which Nguyen relates the story of his life and his journey from Vietnam to Las Vegas. Esfandiari also contributes an entertaining foreword introducing the book.

Besides chronicling the final table in an in-depth and interesting way, the book provides insight into how both intuition and logic matter at the poker table, and shares with readers practical ways to apply such insight in their own play.

In the following excerpt, Nguyen discusses a hand he played on Day 1 of the final table when six players were left, one in which he made what at the time seemed like a curious fold on the flop versus Cliff Josephy.

I've taken more criticism for this hand than almost any other hand. Even Antonio Esfandiari specifically mentioned it at the start of Day 2 as an example of how I was beatable.

I raised to $1,950,000 from under the gun with [9s][9d]. Cliff Josephy, on my left, re-raised me to $4,900,000. With the remaining four players left to act behind him, I gave him credit for a real hand here. This is an unfortunate situation to be in. The flop of [6c][4s][4h] is favorable for my hand, but the question remains, how am I going to get this hand to show- down? Poker is all about avoiding difficult situations. I checked and when Cliff bet $4,500,000, I folded.

Some players will say you should check-call at least one street here, and then check-fold after that. But there are so many turn cards that make your hand even worse. If Cliff is playing right, he is not going to let me show this down. He is going to continue to value bet his big pairs, and if he totally missed he is going to bluff me off my hand. I certainly don't want to call him down with this hand, find out he has a bigger pair, and lose a $30 million dollar pot to him. At this point my primary concern is protecting my chip stack and putting myself into situations where I can play with confidence. Also, I need to protect my "control of the table" (momentum), which I risk if I lose a big pot to Cliff.

Hopefully my logic makes sense to you now. I know it seems a little weak to just check-fold the flop, but I had been so successful up to this point not putting myself in difficult spots, that it seemed like the best play. It turns out in this case I was wrong, and Cliff had a hand ([Qd][Td]) much weaker than what he would typically three-bet with from the hijack.

D&B Publishing (using the imprint D&B Poker) was created by Dan Addelman and Byron Jacobs 15 years ago. Since then it has become one of the leading publishers of poker books with titles by Phil Hellmuth, Jonathan Little, Mike Sexton, Chris Moorman, Dr. Patricia Cardner, Lance Bradley, Martin Harris and more, all of which are available at D&B Poker.

INTERVIEW: SHAWN BUCHANAN GIVES TIPS TO KICKSTART YOUR POKER CAREER

There's not a lot that Shawn "buck21" Buchanan hasn't accomplished throughout his time in poker. A triple COOP winner who also has $7M in live earnings, Buchanan's most recent victory came a couple of weekends ago when he defeated the current worldwide #1, Niklas "Lena900" Åstedt, heads-up to take down the $215 NLO8 Sunday SuperSonic.

We caught up with Buchanan and talked about Omaha, COOP memories, and being an "old man" after a decade and a half in the game. Plus he gives you some tips to get started in poker.

The Sunday Million celebrates it's 13th Anniversary on Sunday April 14. This special edition will have a guaranteed prize pool of $10 million, with the winner guaranteed $1 million

Satellites start at just $0.90

The buy-in for this special event will be $215, up (for one week only) from the now regular buy-in of $109. But between now and the event itself we're offering a variety of ways that players can take part.

Satellites to the Sunday Million 13th Anniversary are designed to give everyone the chance to take part. The cheapest you'll find will cost just $0.90 to play.

Then from March 25, there will be daily $15 satellites. Each will guarantee 100 seats into the Sunday Million.

13 years. 600+ tournaments. $750+ million won

The Sunday Million is the world's biggest weekly poker tournament. Since it started on March 6, 2006 (the same week Jeff Williams was winning the EPT season 2 Grand Final in Monaco) it has become an icon of the online game. There have been more than 600 editions in that time.

Thanks to the $1 million guaranteed prize pool, first place regularly pays more than $100,000. That amounts to more than $750 million in prize money in the 13 years since Canadian 'aaaaaaaa' earned $173,843 in the first Sunday Million.

"We're thrilled to be a part of this poker milestone, but the credit goes to all of the poker lovers out there who have made the Sunday Million happen nearly every week for the past 13 years, so we hope to see them at the tables on April 14," said Severin Rasset, Director of Poker Innovation and Operations at The Stars Group.

Here's how to play

Satellites into the Sunday Million 13th Anniversary are running now. Next week we'll have details of how you can Spin and Go your way to a ticket, as well as how to win that $1 million top prize.

You can get more details of the event, including details of the structure and pay-outs, as well as how to qualify, on the Sunday Million homepage.

Later this month, we'll also be launching special Sunday Million Spin and Go's, with buy-ins starting at just $5. The top prize will be $1 million, with Sunday Million tickets to be won along the way. You can find more details of that on the PokerStars Blog later this month.

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https://www.pokerstars.com/en/blog/2019/announcing-sunday-million-13-anniversary-180033.shtmlNewsPokerStars newsFri, 15 Mar 2019 07:12:21 -0500Keeping up with the Super High Rollers: "Chip and a chair"We've seen what they're doing, but do we know why? Here are three current Super High Roller trends you should keep an eye on.

Put on a pot of coffee, grab a notebook, and get comfortable. We're about to lay some in-depth, next level, high stakes poker strategy on your keisters.

Still reading? Then don't worry; while we'll be laying it on you, the strategy won't be coming from us. Taking advanced poker lessons from the PokerStars Blog team would be like taking a photo of Conor McGregor. You just don't do it.

Instead, the strategy stuff will be coming straight from some of the best poker players in the world. We scoured through our live streams and reporting from the $100K Super High Roller at the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure (PCA) 2019, and picked out three interesting trends that seemed to keep cropping up:

CHIP AND A CHAIR

Leaving a small amount of your stack behind when moving all in has been a popular play in the online world for a while now, particularly when on the bubble. It gives you some wiggle room, especially when you're very short-stacked (and cashing is worth more than doubling up).

For example:

Let's say you're two away from the money in a freeze-out tournament and you have a 5,375 stack with the blinds and antes at 500/1,000/125.

Action folds to you in the cutoff and you look down at [3c][3s]. There's a good chance you'll just pick up the pot by jamming, but bubbling and not making the money would be a disaster after several hours of play.

By making it 5,000 and leaving 375 behind, you can get away should the button, small blind and big blind go nuts behind you. You'll have three antes remaining, by which time you'll likely be able to fold yourself into the money.

The "chip and a chair" play has crept into the live world too, and is proving a popular move among the wizards of the game.

One example you might have seen is Stephen Chidwick's failed bluff versus Sam Greenwood (who held the nuts) at the final table of the PCA Super High Roller:

"It's a virtual all-in!" says commentator James Hartigan. "He's left himself with one chip!"

The bad news for Chidwick arrived quickly when Greenwood set him all in for that final 5,000 chip (less than the big blind). By folding in a spot where he had zero chance to win, Chidwick at least kept himself in the game (albeit not for long).

It was a play that Matthias Eibinger had already made earlier in the tournament. While the cameras missed the hand in which he dropped down to a single chip, they were there to capture the aftermath:

Eibinger would bust not long after that.

So far it might seem there's not much merit in making this move. But hold your horses, because the man who would go on to win that Super High Roller--Sam Greenwood--was about to change your opinion of it in the PCA Main Event.

Fresh off his $1.77M victory, Greenwood was grinding his way through the business end of Day 2 of the Main Event when the following hand took place (as reported by PokerStars Blog):

He was down and all but out. Yet with only two hands left on the day, Greenwood managed to turn that single 5,000 chip into 57,000 by the time the bags were brought out. Half an hour into Day 3 and Greenwood called all in from the small blind with [7d][7h] only to flop quads. That took him up to 145,000, and he was officially back in the race.

Greenwood would ultimately finish in 73rd place for $20,980, proving what Joe Stapleton has known all along (since inventing the phrase in 2013): "All you need is a chip and a chair."

But what have we learned from this? Well, leaving one chip behind in a big blind ante tournament can be a fruitful play. The chance for a comeback is always there when you're not forced to ante every hand.

Make sure you balance the move so you're making it with strong hands too, though, otherwise leaving a chip behind could become as obvious a tell as munching on an Oreo.

HUNTING THIN VALUE

What gives the best tournament players their edge? While there are dozens of answers one could give, a surefire one would be that they're able to get value from marginal hands in spots where many players would be happy to get to showdown.

This was a dynamic we saw frequently at the PCA. We'll kick things off with this pot between Isaac Haxton and Dominik Nitsche:

"He's definitely betting for value here," says Lex Veldhuis from the commentary booth after Nitsche leads the river with second pair. "You can judge that from the sizing. Now the question is: is Ike going to raise or call?"

Haxton, who 'slow-played' his top-pair-weak-kicker on the flop and turned the same straight draw as Nitsche, opts to raise it up.

"Wow, Ike is so good," Veldhuis notes. "This is one of those situations where these High Rollers are so tough. 95 per cent of the time when you play this hand your opponent is just going to call and take it down with the queen-three. This is a little bit of a bite back when you bet this small against guys like Ike."

Nitsche does end up making the call, and Haxton picks up some "excellent value" according to Veldhuis. This hand is a great example of two players seeking thin value with marginal hands in spots where it might have also have been fine for them to check.

Our next example also includes Nitsche, this time battling against eventual champ Sam Greenwood.

Having opened pre-flop, Greenwood elects not to continuation bet when he flops a gutshot straight draw. Nitsche opts to check back his top pair, as he also would on a seemingly blank turn.

The river is obviously a disaster for Nitsche's hand, giving Greenwood a broadway straight. "This is a checked-through pot, so he's bound to make some money," Veldhuis predicts.

Greenwood now needs to start betting in order to get value from his hand, and he does lead. Would you also lead with a queen for value though? After all, Nitsche has shown no signs of having an ace thus far.

"Wow, he bets 17,000 [into a pot of 56,000], a very small raise," says Veldhuis. "[Greenwood] has an excellent read on the situation. Nitsche might go for this and put in a raise, very similar to the Isaac Haxton situation we saw earlier."

Nitsche does indeed raise it up, making it 65,000. "These guys are smart enough to know that sometimes it works as a red flag for somebody to go for a bluff or some extra value."

Greenwood takes his time, which Veldhuis says would be necessary if you were thinking of bluffing. Of course, we know he has the goods, and he eventually sets Nitsche all in. He folds.

As Stapleton says, the look on Nitsche's face says it all: "He knows he got caught."

We saw this dynamic happen again before Day 2 of the Super High Roller was over, when Mikita Badziakouski clashed with French businessman Jean-Noel Thorel.

By checking the turn, Badziakouski implements some pot control with his over pair. This could be done for a number of reasons, including keeping the pot small for those times when Thorel does have a deuce or a flush, plus it can trick a pair of tens into a false sense of security.

Thorel then leads on the blank river with his trips. "We've seen a few of these situations," says Veldhuis. "Maybe Badziakouski will go for a raise. We saw Nitsche do it earlier with a marginal hand, still for value, so it's definitely a dynamic we've been seeing a lot in these Super High Rollers."

Badziakouski does raise, and Thorel calls quickly with the three ducks. Had Thorel held [ah][ts] instead this play would have been perfect, but alas, it didn't work out this time.

So, when should you hunt thin value and when should you just check? We couldn't tell you. But if these examples have shown us anything, it's that being too conservative with your marginal hands can sometimes cost you more than if you go for it and are wrong.

THE NEW SEMI-BLUFF

Now, we only have one solid video example of this next trend, but the insight given by Veldhuis in his commentary made it well worth including.

It's from a hand between Badziakouski and Joao Vieira. Check it out:

After defending his big blind with a weak-yet-suited holding against Badziakouski's open, Vieira flops middle pair and checks it. Badziakouski has less than 20 big blinds (Dangerzone!) and c-bets for 10 percent of his stack having completely whiffed the flop.

"Middle pair is pretty nice to flop," says Veldhuis. "Badziakouski is getting short, I actually wonder whether Vieira is going to check-call or check-raise. There's a lot of merit to check-raising these kind of hands. You don't have many tough turn decisions."

Vieira seems to agree, and check-raises Badziakouski all in. He then folds.

"This is kind of the new semi-bluff," Veldhuis goes on to explain. "It's to protect what you have. You're not going to make any bad folds on the turn. Let's say someone has jack-ten and the turn is an ace, and they bet and you fold. Or you go check check and an overcard hits your opponent.

"So this is kind of the new semi-bluff in the sense that if somebody calls you're going to need to hit two pair, and if they don't call that's fine too because you didn't overplay a strong hand anyway."

Stapleton then asks whether Vieira minds that Badziakouski folded. "No, you hope that happens," Veldhuis explains. "You hope they fold and then [if not] you have an emergency two pair draw."

Veldhuis provided the insight

The questions and answers kept coming even after our video stopped, with Veldhuis going in to more detail about this rising trend.

"So is there like a line for the hand strength [you should have when making that move]? Because [Vieira's hand] was medium to weak, so he's OK with worse hands folding?" Stapes asks.

"Yeah, the most important thing is that you don't make bad folds on the turn when your hand is still good," Veldhuis says. "You don't give him six free outs when he has overcards. But it just depends how deep your opponents stack is."

"What would be too good of a hand to do that with?" Stapes continues.

"In this case I would say two pair. You could definitely do it with queen-X as well because if Badziakouski has ace-seven or king-seven there he's definitely calling. With a queen there are quite a few hands you could get called by."

Well, there you have it. After every European Poker Tour stop we'll be looking to bring you more trends from the Super High Roller world, so you can try and implement some of these moves into your own game.